'Mad cow' meat sought in eight states

Investigators and retailers in eight US states are trying to recover meat that may have come from a cow stricken with deadly mad cow disease.

US Agriculture Department officials maintained, however, that there was no health risk to consumers.

Dr Kenneth Petersen, a department veterinarian, said an investigation revealed that meat from the infected dairy cow could have reached retail markets in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Montana and the territory of Guam – more locations than originally thought.

Officials had said earlier that most of the meat went to Washington and Oregon, with lesser amounts to California and Nevada, for retail sale.

“The recalled meat represents essentially zero risk to consumers,” said Petersen, of USDA’s food safety agency.

He said parts most likely to carry infection – the brain, spinal cord and lower intestine – were removed before the meat from the infected cow was cut and processed for human consumption.

Despite their assurances of food safety, federal officials have taken the precaution of recalling 10,000 pounds of meat from the infected cow and from 19 other cows slaughtered on December 9 at Vern’s Moses Lake Meat Company, in Moses Lake, Washington.

Officials are still recovering meat and will not know how much has been found for some days, Petersen said.

The list of countries banning US beef imports continued to grow. Jordan and Lebanon joined the list yesterday and beef industry officials estimated they had lost 90% of their export market because of bans by more than two dozen nations.